The serious event of the sin of the Golden Calf, which our Torah portion describes, raises great wonder: just a short time earlier, the Children of Israel stood at Mount Sinai, saw with their own eyes the tremendous Divine revelation, unlike anything before, and heard with their own ears the commandments: “I am G-d, your G-d... you must not make yourself a sculpted image...”! How is it possible that after such a wondrous Divine revelation and an explicit prohibition against idolatry, they would even consider committing idolatry?!
Indeed, our Sages explain that Satan came “and confused the world and showed a form of darkness, obscurity, and confusion,” and yet it is still hard to understand how the confusion created by Satan caused the Children of Israel to fall so deeply—from the highest to the lowest level—to the point of making a calf?!
A Calf Instead of Moses?
The explanation lies in the description the Torah gives of the sequence of events that led to the sin of the calf. If we pay close attention to the wording of the Torah, we find that the Children of Israel were not seeking a substitute for G-d—Heaven forbid—but rather a substitute for Moses. After seeing that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, they sought a replacement for him, and this is how they justified it: “...because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Although when they approached Aaron they used the expression, “make us gods that will go before us,” the context shows they did not mean G-d in the sense of the Creator of heaven and earth, but rather as a guide and leader (as the Torah itself uses this term when G-d said to Moses, “see, I have made you as a god to Pharaoh,” meaning a ruler and judge). However, after that, they were drawn further until they regarded the calf as idolatry.
Cherubim, Only in the Sanctuary
Yet it is still not clear: how could the Children of Israel imagine that a golden calf could be a substitute for Moses, “the man of G-d,” about whom it was said, “I stand between G-d and you”?
Their error stemmed from the fact that G-d Himself commanded that cherubim of gold be made upon the Ark of the Covenant, from where the Divine voice issued. The Children of Israel therefore thought that they too could create a kind of ‘connection’ between themselves and G-d, in the form of the Golden Calf. And indeed, this is the reason G-d commanded, “you shall not make with Me gods of silver or gods of gold; you shall not make for yourselves,” meaning that the form of the cherubim is not to be reproduced in synagogues or study halls.
Strengthening Faith
In truth, the root of the sin of the calf was a deficiency in the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. Had their faith and acceptance of the yoke been complete, they would not even have approached the beginning of the error, and certainly would not have fallen and committed such a grave sin.
Indeed, the women and children did not contribute their gold to the calf, because their faith was strong and steadfast, and therefore there was no place for such a thing among them.
By strengthening faith and the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, one also strengthens the recognition of G-d’s unity, so that a Jew feels that there is no true existence other than G-d. Even when studying Torah and finding multiple interpretations, he senses that in essence it is one Torah, given by one G-d.
(the Rebbe, Likkutei Sichot, Vol. 11)
